The Eighth Jump
by Hidden Treasures
Summary: While on a Cannon jump, Rose comes across what she believes to be a parallel version of the Doctor, who gives her the strength and encouragement to continue looking for him.
Rose gasped as her feet it the ground with enough force to nearly buckle her knees out from under her. Her head spun; she closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the impending nausea. When her head stopped pounding and her stomach settled, she opened her eyes.

The London landscape greeted her. Did she do it? Was she back home? Her heart fluttered with the prospect of being back in her proper universe once more.

A shadow passed over her and she looked up: a zeppelin. _Dammit_. She growled in frustration and raked her fingers through her hair as she tried to swallow the crushing disappointment. So not home then; just a few miles down the road. _Dammit_.

She sighed, allowing herself a moment of self-pity before she sucked in a breath, straightened her shoulders, and began the trek back to the Torchwood offices. As she meandered aimlessly into a nearby park, she tried to give herself a pep talk to melt away the lead weight that had settled in her stomach. This was only the eighth Cannon jump; she shouldn't be so hard on herself. So what if she hadn't actually managed to leave this universe yet? It would happen, one day. She had to keep looking.

Suddenly exhausted, Rose was just about to hail a cab to take her back downtown when the most beautiful, haunting voice echoed in the air around her.

"Rose!"

 _No, no, no, no, no. Not him. Anyone but him. Please_.

She must have left the parallel universe after all, and managed to land in a different one, one where the Doctor existed and where he evidently still knew this universe's version of Rose.

Rose ducked her head and kept walking, hoping he would think he'd made a mistake and would eventually leave her alone. No such luck.

"Rose, wait!"

She stiffened and turned when she felt his hand on her shoulder. He had a bright grin on his face and Rose had to swallow the lump in her throat. He was still as beautiful as she remembered, and though he wasn't her Doctor, she was so glad to see his smile once more. It had been far too many years since she'd last seen it.

But as suddenly as it blossomed, his smile faded and his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. She inhaled sharply. He looked so much like her Doctor, but he wasn't her Doctor, and now it felt like she'd lost him all over again.

Her head began spinning once more, and her vision turned spotty, and she was sure she was about to pass out in about 0.02 seconds.

"Whoa, there," this Not-Doctor exclaimed, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. She muffled a whimper into his polo-shirt as she leaned into him. He smelled so good and felt so warm and she missed her Doctor _so much_. She nuzzled closer to his chest, letting the rhythm of his heart sooth her. Wait. His heart? One heart? Oh. Right. This wasn't _her_ Doctor. She was in another bloody parallel world and this was a different bloody Doctor. He probably wasn't even called _Doctor_ , but was probably called bloody _Alonso_.

It took quite the effort, but Rose finally managed to pull herself away from his embrace. His arms loosened around her, but his hands stayed on her hips and she was grateful for the contact; she still wasn't sure that she wouldn't pass out.

"Sorry 'bout that," she mumbled.

"No probs!"

He sounded just like her Doctor in that moment that she felt tears prickle at her eyes. She swiped at them impatiently, not wanting this Not-Doctor to see, but he saw them anyways, and the next thing she knew, she was once more in his arms. She struggled for just a moment before giving up and letting this Not-Doctor comfort her. She was so bloody exhausted and, in this moment, felt so overwhelmed that the dam burst and she was soon sobbing into his chest, ruining his shirt. She should have been mortified, but she couldn't bring herself to care, especially not when he was rubbing her back like that and making soft shushing noises in her ear as he rocked them from side to side.

After a few minutes, Rose straightened out of his arms and scrubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes.

"Sorry," she muttered again.

"Don't apologize," he said softly, looking at her with the widest eyes that reflected nothing but concern for her, and an emotion she'd never seen in those eyes before. "You obviously needed that."

"But you don't even know me!"

He scoffed at her and said, "Of course I do! You're Rose Tyler!"

Her heart zinged. As much as she wanted to be his, she still had her own Doctor somewhere in the multiverse, and she had to find him.

"Not your Rose," she argued. "I don't expect you to understand. But thanks anyways."

"Oh, but I'm brilliant!" he said, sounding, once more, just like her Doctor. "You are my Rose! You're…"

He seemed to choke on his words, and a shadow crossed his face for the briefest of moment before he grinned manically at her.

"I teach theoretical physics at university. Quite the genius, me. So you can't expect me to not believe in the possibility of parallel universes or time travel, eh? You're my Rose, just…not yet, or not quite. Whichever. Wherever. Whenever. But know this, Rose Tyler, whatever you're doing here and however you've done so, you are absolutely brilliant, and whatever your objective is, I am absolutely confident that you will succeed and you are going to have a fantastic life!"

His voice increased in speed and pitch as he spoke, and Rose had to blink back a fresh wave of tears. He sounded just like her Doctor, giving her hope when she had none, and believing in her to the point of madness. And suddenly, Rose was absolutely determined to find her Doctor again. She didn't care if it took a decade, she would find him again.

Rose heard a muffled beeping coming from her pocket. Her ride home.

She ignored it for just a moment to lift herself up onto her tiptoes to brush her lips across his cheek.

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

"You're welcome, Rose Tyler," he whispered, smiling softly at her. "And good luck!"

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead tightly for a moment, before he pulled back and walked away. She watched him disappear to the edges of the park, where she saw a blonde woman waiting for him. Hmm. That must be this universe's Rose Tyler. This Not-Doctor's Rose.

She smiled softly when she saw the couple embrace. At least this universe got it right.

oOoOo

The Doctor hated to walk away from Rose, but he needed to preserve the timelines, so he gave her the best thing he could: hope. She still had a long ways to go, and his heart broke for her.

He spotted his Rose across the field and walked more quickly towards her, needing to hold her. He shuddered when he felt the slight prickle of energy ripple against his skin, indicating that the past-Rose had jumped back to her own time stream.

When he finally got close enough to Rose, he saw that her cheeks were splotchy and her eyes were rimmed red. His heart lurched into his throat and he put on an extra spurt of speed.

"Rose," he breathed, wrapping her into his arms, hugging her close when he felt her trembling.

"Thank you," she murmured into his chest. "Thank you."

He pressed his lips to her hair repeatedly as she clung to him, adding to the dampness of his shirt.

"You have no idea how much seeing you helped me back then," she whispered, pulling back to look him in the eye. "I was so frustrated, and was thinking of stopping the Cannon jumps for awhile. Nothing was working and I was sure finding you would be absolutely impossible. But then I jumped here and found you, and I thought I'd just found a different parallel universe. And even though I didn't think you were my Doctor, what you said to me gave me the confidence and the strength to keep looking for you. _Thank you_."

The Doctor smiled down at her. He was so grateful she didn't give up on him, and he was so glad that he could offer her some measure of comfort during that difficult time.

"I love you," he said, his voice cracking. "I love you, my beautiful, precious, brilliant Rose."

He tilted her head up as he leaned down and snagged her top lip between his. He poured every ounce of love and gratitude he felt for her into this kiss, needing her to know how thankful he was for her and for this human life of his.

He finally pulled back and he reached down to thread his fingers through hers. He brought their clasped hands to his lips and brushed gentle kisses against her back of her hand.

"C'mon," he said. "Let's go home."


End file.
